Breaking: Obama To Drop Social Security Cuts In His Budget

[okaawhatever]

34. No, it's politics pure and simple. It was also a move I appreciated. Republs are screaming for cuts

to budget. Democrats have fought to keep cuts away from Soc Security for years. Currently the majority of soc security recipients vote Republican. It's not a winner for the Democrats, but it's aligned with their positions, so each year, the Democrats have had to give up something to get a win for the Republicans constituents. Additionally, the Republican voters who are on SS have no idea that the Republicans want to cut SS. They think "entitlements" mean someone else. They have no idea that most of the cuts groups like Cato show in their proposals with huge cuts to "entitlement" programs include SS. SS is an "entitlement" program. Again, most seniors don't know that.

In the statement Obama points out the Republican hypocrisy on this:

"The compromise embedded in last year’s Budget included policies like chained CPI -- the number one policy change that Republicans had asked for in previous fiscal negotiations," said a White House official. "However, over the course of last year, Republicans consistently showed a lack of willingness to negotiate on a deficit reduction deal, refusing to identify even one unfair tax loophole they would be willing to close, despite the President’s willingness to put tough things on the table." (emphasis mine)

Every time the GOP screams cuts, Obama has said sure, how's about we look at SS, you know the program that affects your voters, and the Republicans have backed down. It's smart politics and gradually educating the seniors. You don't waste political capital on things to benefit the opposition. It seems the Republicans have probably agreed to some sort of compromise to get Obama not to ask for it. Ha ha. They blinked. I guess they got tired of seniors figuring out they didn't really have their backs.